


Show Me the Way to Paradise

by misura



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:55:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26952484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: Compared to Vere, Patras was a paradise.
Relationships: Erasmus/Torveld (Captive Prince)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 43
Collections: Fandom Trumps Hate 2020





	Show Me the Way to Paradise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Acephalous](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acephalous/gifts).



Compared to Vere, Patras was a paradise. Erasmus spoke the language well, and he'd practiced every day of their trip here, with everyone willing to spend the time.

Torveld had teased him about feeling abandoned. _'I miss you when you're gone,'_ he'd said, which was almost, but not quite improper, so Erasmus had hidden his smile by bowing, as was proper, and said, _'This slave is unworthy of your notice,'_ , because saying he missed Torveld too would have been extremely improper, even if it was true.

(He suspected Torveld had understood him all the same. It gave him a guilty happy feeling, to know that Torveld knew him so well already, that Torveld had made that sort of effort.)

In Bazal, of course, things were not as they had been on the road. Torveld was an important person - not quite as important as Prince Damianos had been, would have been, if he had lived, but close.

Erasmus had expected to need to share Torveld. He had told himself that he looked forward to meeting Torveld's other slaves and servants. They would be able to help him, to tell him about Torveld's likes and dislikes. That was how it would have worked in Akielos.

It did not seem to work that way in Patras.

On asking what sort of dishes Torveld liked, Erasmus was told that Torveld liked simple fare, the sort common soldiers ate. Torveld did not like fancy food, or food that was difficult or complicated to prepare. (The kitchen staff seemed evenly divided between considering this a positive trait and an insult to their culinary talents. They did all agree that Erasmus spoke excellent Patran, especially for an Akielon.)

On inquiring about Torveld's tastes in drinks, Erasmus learned that Torveld would drink any wine, from anywhere, provided it tasted reasonably good. (The opinion of the kitchen staff was once again divided.)

Buoyed by this success, Erasmus thanked the kitchen staff, was (again) complimented on his pronunciation and moved on to the slave quarters. Rightfully, he should have started there, but Torveld had arranged for Erasmus to stay in his rooms instead ( _'Just for the first few weeks, until you're settled in,'_ Torveld had said, and Erasmus had almost opened his mouth to protest that he did not need such special treatment, but then Torveld had kissed him and murmured something about wanting to keep Erasmus nearby and all to himself, and Erasmus had told himself that it was most certainly not a slave's place to disagree with his master.)

He had expected to perhaps need to answer some questions about how he had come to be here. He had been prepared for such questions: they would be justified. Any Patran slaves showing up in the palace at Ios would have been asked such questions as well.

Instead - well. There _were_ questions, but no-one seemed especially interested in Erasmus.

"I hear you spent the day asking questions about me," Torveld said over dinner. (Torveld's, not Erasmus's. What was appropriate at a banquet or official feast was not the same as what was proper in private.)

Erasmus bowed to hide his flushed face. "This slave is eager to learn."

"You could simply ask me, you know," Torveld said.

A slave who needed to ask their master what pleased them was a slave who had failed in their most important duty. The best slaves were those who anticipated their master's commands, who did not even require their master to voice a desire before seeing it fulfilled.

Thus Erasmus had been taught, and even after everything that had happened in Vere, he believed it.

And Torveld, kind, generous, wonderful Torveld - he deserved the best.

"Go on, ask me something," Torveld said, smiling at him, as if he had no doubt whatsoever that Erasmus was worthy of him. "I don't mind."

_You should,_ Erasmus almost said. Instead, he bowed again and said, "This slave lives to serve," realizing as he did so that it was the first time he had used such a standardized formula with Torveld.

It was proper, of course, and appropriate. At its heart, the phrase was meant to emphasize the boundaries between master and slave, to indicate that the one's role was to command and the other's to obey.

Torveld reached out and rested his hand on Erasmus's head, as if to reassure him. "I've spent a lot of time on the border, fighting. Trust me when I say there's plenty of stuff around here that confuses me, too. So I was hoping we could help each other out from time to time."

_What does he tell you to do for him?_ one of the palace slaves had asked Erasmus. _Does he prefer men or women or both?_ another had asked him, as if they did not know. As if, in all the months Torveld had spent here, he had never once ordered one of them to his bed.

"Please say 'yes'," Torveld said.

"Yes, Exalted," Erasmus said obediently. He tried to tell himself that perhaps the rules did not apply in a situation like this one. None of his trainers had ever expected him to end up anywhere other than the palace in Ios - or at worst with one of the kyroi.

"Better," Torveld said, voice warm with approval. Erasmus felt himself glow, even though he hadn't done anything particularly praiseworthy or exceptional. "Now, ask me something."

"I - " Erasmus swallowed. He told himself to be brave, like the Veretian prince's slave had been. _He'd_ managed to arrange for his master to get Torveld to take on Erasmus and the others; what was asking a simple question compared to that?

Torveld sighed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you. Share some of this food to make up for it?"

Erasmus realized with mortifying certainty that Torveld felt he had wronged Erasmus, rather than the other way around - and yet the way he had constructed his sentence also allowed for an interpretation of the opposite. In Akielon, the tense of the verb would have clarified the subject's status; in Patran, this was not the case.

Torveld's smile suggested he was very much aware of Erasmus's thoughts. "I've spent a lot of time negotiating with Vaskian ambassadors," he said, adding, "They like to snack when they're not talking," as if that would fool Erasmus into thinking the first sentence hadn't been an explanation - almost an excuse, in fact, except that of course masters did not apologize to slaves.

"I would love to hear about your travels," Erasmus said, feeling himself blush again.

Still, he reassured himself, listening when a master had indicated they wished to talk was well within protocol.

"That was almost a question, wasn't it?" This time, Torveld grinned outright. "I'm glad. And I'd be happy to tell you of all the places I've been - though perhaps, one day, I might show some of them to you instead. If you'd like that."

It was obvious what answer would best please Torveld. That it was also true was of, at best, secondary importance "Yes. I'd like that," Erasmus said.

"Good. It's a promise," Torveld said.


End file.
